MAW Blog Posts
Some observations on the industry having to deal with the multiple complexities of the burgeoning AI phenomenon.
The game is afoot, said Holmes to Watson.
Whether you are a large distributor or small, the hype around AI and its benefits is all consuming. Operating budgets and capital investments are growing. Third party service providers abound. Technical help is less than abundant and more that expensive. The game is afoot. No distributor wants to lose a good customer over issues that could have been avoided. Or lose a key employee. Or a lead. Or a line. Or a location. Or a loan. While managing AI can make promises come true, we are equally motivated by not wanting to fumble it.
See full article.
An introduction to the Select Board that is critical to the BirdTraffic Mathod as it principal point of entry for managing a result.
BirdTraffic, the owner of the MAW Blog, has adopted a “result board” to guide is assessment of users’ needs and the delivery of service to them. BirdTraffic offers result management services, and uses this 9-Dial Result Board because it is both simple and all-inclusive.
The BirdTraffic Method calls for repeating stages of “select, setup and proceed” in all aspects of its service, from discussions with users all the way to delivery. The “select” means to choose what results are to be included - meaning pulled from this board, either singly or in groups. Data tables requirement in the “setup” then follow.
Results can be in all shapes and variations. Forward or back. Dollar or nondollar. Varying time period lengths. Broken out or not. Varying frequency of reporting. And so on. All of that is parts of the Result Board’s role as a menu operator - and communicator.
See full article.
7- Managing Tariffs
Standing at the Corner of Tariffs and Management: The 4 Mindsets Toward Tariffs
Distributors should choose a “Tariff Mindset’ from four possibilities - or likely construct a blend of all.
We have provided a link to an article about managing through the tariff situation. It was written in July be has the same applicability now as then.
The article presents a case study for the mythical parts distributor Champion Distribution, Inc. Champion operates in an also mythical equipment channel - the Multi-. In sections of the article, a large customer of Champion is brought in - Action Parts and Service, of course also mythical. Champion line of business is examined and its pre-tariff and post tariff results are shown.
See full article.
A random look into one day’s list of small startup distribution companies that are hiring.
So you want to get into a startup company in the wholesale distribution. You may have seen our post about the Top 50 companies in this field as reported by Industrial Distribution (“Top 50”). That list has companies with revenue from rrr to ddd billion. The startups are certainly the opposite of that.
This is random, but here is what one person found is finding a role in a WD startup.
See full article.
Identifying five types of situations in the industry for which BirdTraffic likely is an effective source of assistance.
BirdTraffic, the owner of the MAW Industry Blog, has identified five types of users that are in the best position to benefit from its services, and it will tailor a large portion of its proposals, data collection and result management efforts accordingly. This fortifies the application of the BirdTaffic Method to these businesses.with the benefits of a streamlined path to gathering and using required information. BirdTraffic’s mission is to focus on results, past and future, and the causes of the past and influences over the future.
Learn more about the BirdTraffic Method for Result Management. See BirdTraffic Method.
4- Do you use mix variances? Meet the Variance Family here
Promoting the use of the several types of variances in analyzing results
Variance analysis. Let’s walk through the hierarchy of variances and what they can tell us. There is a sample table at the end. Something like this can be kept current and do a lot of explaining when questions come.
With result management as a specialty, we want to promote the usefulness of any and all tools that hold promise and are practical. So we don’t want to overlook possibly the oldest and most effective tool of all, the variance analysis. Or to be more precise, the Variance Family - for there are layers of them that all serve a purpose.
See full post.
7/13/25
3- Public Company Sample
Observations from a study of a small group of public companies in wholesale distribution
Attached is a description of a project which involved looking at some publicly traded companies in wholesale distribution.
The purpose was to satisfy some curiosity about valuation of public versus private ownership in the industry.
A second purpose was to “shrink” data and form a set of financial statements on an under $50 million company - this would be used in examples and demos on this site.
Financial statements and ratios for the three participating companies plus the resultant demo company (called “Public-Company Sample, Inc.”) are viewable on this page:
See full post.
7/12/25
2- NAW: How this national association can help the independent distributor run its business better
The NAW is committed to distribution companies large and small by understanding you and driving solutions.
You may not be familiar with the NAW - the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors. Or you may just feel that a quite large association with some quite large member companies offers little of interest to the independent distributor. So let’s just take a minute to frame a picture of the NAW at work in service of you meeting your goals.
The big picture for the NAW is to lead in four areas:
advocacy
collaboration
education
innovation
See full post.
7/1/25
1 - Meet the Big 50 from Industrial Distribution’s Survey
This annual tracking of distributors by Industrial Distribution offers some interesting insights into sales and industry segments year-over-year
The annual rankings report prepared by Industrial Distribution is out. It is interesting even for small distributors to take a look into - it relates to growth rates, acquisition and sales of companies, the fates of different product categories and the general ups and downs of revenue activity.
Here are your top 5:
W.W. Grainger, Lake Forest, IL #1 at $16.5 bil.
Motion, Birmingham, AL #2 at $8.8 bil.
Airgas, Radnor, PA #3 at $7.8 bil.
Fastenal, Winona, MN #4 at$7.3 bil.
Winsupply Inc., Moraine, OH #5 at $7.0 bil.
See full post.